Ghost Town Discoveries

If you want to feel what it’s like to see a modern city nearly turn into a ghost town, walk around Rome Sunday afternoon.  Not only a Sunday afternoon, but a Sunday afternoon during siesta, better yet a Sunday afternoon during siesta in late July.  Besides the main tourist areas, the rest of the city feels nearly empty.  Most Italians are either beginning their summer holidays or are nowhere to be found on the weekends.

Finding a spot to spread out on a blanket and read without being disturbed by crowds in Villa Borghese was easier than normal yesterday (usually on a Saturday it’s quite busy).  I picked a spot near a fountain away from the main walkways but still within hearing distance from the street musicians trading off playing the saxophone and accordion.  The music and the thousands of crickets provided the perfect white noise to relax and read in one of my favorite places in Rome.

My Italian has really suffered after spending a few weeks with visitors and friends from home and I’ve even found myself giving up trying to speak Italian with my roommates and friends who speak Italian. To help get myself back on track, I finally tracked down a few books that I’ve heard of that read in English on one page and Italian on the next page.  How cool is that?

My new English/Italian reading material.

As it’s my last week in Rome, I want to make an effort to see a few of the things I’ve walked by every day but never taken the time to go inside.  Today I found a real gem that I’ve probably walked by almost every day.  Since there seem to be ruins everywhere, unless you are with a tour guide it’s difficult to determine what exactly you’re looking at.  It turns out the ruins just a few blocks from my house are actually part of the ancient Baths of Diocletian.  The baths were built between 298 and 206 AD and were the largest of the imperial baths.  In 1541, a Sicilian priest, Fr. Antonio Lo Duca, had a vision of angels in the ruins of these baths.  After hearing this, Pope Pius IV ordered a church be built within the baths.  Thus Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri was built. The church was the last church designed by Michelangelo before his death in 1564 (he began work on the church in 1563 and the design was completed by the nephew of one of Michelangelo’s long-time apprentices).  In 1896 it was used for the wedding of the Prince of Naples (who became King Victor Emmanuel III) and has since been the place of many religious ceremonies promoted by the Italian state.

Santa Maria degli Angeli, Piazza Repubblica

It has an unassuming exterior for a church as its outer walls are mainly the brick of the Baths and it's right on Piazza Repubblica so you are often quite distracted by the grand fountain and loads of cars and buses passing by.  Sadie and I tried to venture in during her visit, but we had our shorts on that day and clearly wearing shorts is a very bad thing, so we were sent out in shame (sarcasm).  This time I was prepared with long skirt and scarf for my sinful shoulders.  

Santa Maria degli Angeli

Not only the history, design and size of the church incredible, there happened to be an exhibit about Galileo shown on informational boards, pictures, and stories throughout the church.  I’m still not exactly clear what his association is with this specific church (there is a 5-meter high statue of him him in the church that was dedicated from the China Center of Advanced Science and Technology) but I’m assuming he utilized the planetarium located just across the way from the church during before he was found “vehemently suspect of heresy", mainly because of his “opinion” that the Sun is the center of the universe and not the Earth.  After spending some time learning about his countless discoveries, I’m in awe of this “father of modern science.”

Besides the Galileo exhibit, I was most impressed with this organ built by Bar in the 1990’s.  It has 77 registers and is made of cherry, walnut and chestnut wood.  The size is difficult to capture in pictures, but you can see how small the people who are close to it look.  Today it’s often used for concerts.

Organ in Santa Maria degli Angeli

Organ in Santa Maria degli Angeli

I wonder what other wonders I have yet to discover in my own back yard...